Can't beat its Demons

ND falls in ugly fashion to DePaul

ND falls in ugly fashion to DePaul

February 13, 2006|FORREST MILLER Tribune Staff Writer

CHICAGO -- All the problems that have hovered over the Notre Dame women's basketball team this season -- poor shooting, long scoring droughts, defenseless against the 3-point shot -- came pouring down on the Irish Sunday. After making a battle of it for a half, Notre Dame collapsed in the second period and was blown out, 79-50, as DePaul senior Khara Smith registered the 70th double-double of her career with 12 points and 19 rebounds. Sophomore Allie Quigley led the Demons with 26 points. "We quit at the end, it was embarrassing, it was ugly,'' said Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw, her Irish now 14-9 and 5-7 in the Big East. "We were anemic on offense. We missed point-blank shots. We missed layup after layup. Instead of fighting back, we put our heads down. Anybody we brought off the bench was as bad as the player coming out. Somehow we've got to find a group that really wants to play. DePaul kept its starters in and wanted to win by a hundred if they could.'' Erin Cattell, a starter, had DePaul's last two field goals. Quigley, also a starter, had a basket and two free throws in the last 2:18. There were ugly numbers anywhere you wanted to look. Notre Dame missed its first 11 shots on the way to a 17-for-68 performance -- exactly 25 percent. And that included a basket by Tulyah Gaines in the final second. Notre Dame went almost seven minutes at the start without a field goal, and almost another seven minutes after Megan Duffy's 3-pointer 18 seconds into the second half tied the score at 29. There was one positive note. The Irish were charged with only six turnovers, a school record. The previous mark was seven. Charel Allen led Notre Dame with 15 points. Courtney LaVere scored 10. Duffy had 12 on 2-for-12 shooting. Lindsay Schrader, in action before a lot of hometown fans, was 1-for-12. "We've got a chance to finish third in the league, and that's our goal,'' said DePaul coach Doug Bruno, his Blue Demons now 20-5 overall and 7-5 in the Big East. "I'm not going to start a war of words in the newspapers with Muffet.'' After Connecticut snapped DePaul's 33-game home court winning streak on Jan. 28, the Demons went on to lose their third in a row at Rutgers. Notre Dame's first basket of the afternoon came on a jumper by Charel Allen with 13:42 to play in the first half. But because DePaul made only two of its first 10, the Irish deficit was only 6-0. Twice DePaul led by 10 points, the second time at 20-10. A Schrader free throw touched off a 14-1 run by the Irish, who took a 22-21 lead on two Duffy free throws 4:09 before halftime. An offensive putback by LaVere gave Notre Dame a 24-21 lead. A Smith basket was matched by two Schrader free throws with 2:32 left in the half. Two 3-pointers, one by Holly Medley and the other by Quigley erased Notre Dame's 26-23 lead. "Except for that 14-1 run by Notre Dame, we did a find job defensively,'' said Bruno. After Duffy tied the score 18 seconds into the second half, Notre Dame didn't get another field goal until a 3-pointer by the senior guard with 13:10 to play -- a gap of 6:32. DePaul had a 44-38 lead, then a 15-0 run eliminated all hopes of an Irish comeback. It was 59-38 with six minutes to play, and the Demons frolicked their way to numerous breakaway baskets and open layups the rest of the way. "We had a lot of easy looks at the basket,'' said Smith, her 19 rebounds the most by a DePaul player since December of 1997. Of course, when you miss 75 percent of your shots, as Notre Dame did Sunday, a lot of rebounds are available. Duffy had a frustrating afternoon. "They ran a lot of people at me,'' said Duffy. DePaul's 50-24 second half margin included a technical foul on Breona Gray, and a resulting two free throws by Quigley. "I didn't see what happened, the official said she shoved someone,'' said McGraw.